Is there anything like a fresh pair of kicks? Forget the power tie… Nothing completes a fly outfit like a pair of the right sneakers, just tight and right.

The “sneakerhead” culture rose in the hazy glory of the 1980s, born of Basketball, songs like the Run DMC classic, “My Adidas” and the legendary Air Jordan brand. Its become a worldwide phenomenon encompassing tens of millions in sales and trade commerce. “SNKRSLKTR” (SNEAKER SELECTOR) is aimed at that target, giving sneakerheads a place to gather, strut, admire, sell and trade.

The brand itself offers an approachable, iconic take on the phenomenon, establishing a relatable visual language for the project. Our colors derive from the pop and simplicity of the original sneakers of the 1980s that birthed the movement while our custom glyphs underscore the sense of fun inherent in the mark. The app interface attempts to strike the balance between something high in utility and rich and layered in visual feel with a strong nod to the concept of the “quantified self.”

“Pop” is the focus in the kicks game and that’s our watchword here as well. Fun!

Delivery is revolutionizing the grocery industry. Instacart is at the forefront of that wave. Whole Foods Market is proud to be a select partner of the online grocery purchase and delivery solution provider.

These designs for a new customized WFM / Instacart Pilot Experience attempts to strike the balance that great e-commerce experiences do between simple, elegant brand-oriented design cues and user-centered design principles. When combined correctly, they create something that at once serves the needs of the brand while creating a system that is clear and seamless for our target audience and their goals. That was what I was going for here. I personally created these designs and have been working with the talented Instacart squad as we march towards fully realizing them through launch and iteration.

This is different than the Online Ordering experience that I have shown on here, as it is primarily focused on grocery and delivery ordering. It is designed to work in-concert with that Online Ordering experience from a design standpoint, however.

Shown Here: Full Desktop Design + Detail Views of the System, Tablet and Phone Versions As Well

I am a huge devotee of the Mid-Century Modern movement. It was a time when design thinking was king, spurring optimism and creativity across the world. New and progressive approaches were everywhere and perhaps at no other time more than that period, did we strive for that perfect balance of utility and artistic form.

Our house is almost entirely vintage MCM (we have a little 70’s and 80s thrown in for good measure) and every piece we have acquired inspires us every day. Speaking from experience, the process of “doing” a house MCM is BIG fun. AND… It all starts with inspiration. That’s the impetus behind this app: “MIDMODERNISM.” These designs show how that focus comes to life in a way that attempts to strike that same balance that the movement attempted to :: utility made beautiful.

The brand itself draws from the clean, modern geometry of the style, using type, placement and form to create the staccato conversation of pattern so prevalent at that time. Our colors and our custom glyphs here are inspired by the period as well, driving home elegance, richness and whimsey in turns. The system itself leverages simplicity to achieve solid user interaction and seamless flow. In all, a fun and inspiring project inspired by an amazing time in design.

One steadfast theme of my work at Whole Foods Market has been evolution. It is the process of listening to both user needs and the ever-changing the needs of the brand and adjusting the product to match that keeps things alive and very well targeted.

Since I had posted the initial development of the Values Matter campaign here, I thought I would post its evolution as well.

Very recently, I led the creative for the first phase of a revamp of the campaign in the digital space along side partners across the marketing organization. I am sharing the new landing experience here. This will be a part of a large rich media push, content effort and storytelling initiative and will change as the campaign grows and progresses.

The design strategy here offers an immersive and cinematic approach to the content. This underscores the broad brushstrokes of the campaign at large while communicating both the richness and tactility of food and the dappled sun and warmth of a sunny summer’s day. I personally created the overall style for this phase of the campaign and have been thrilled to work with talented internal design support for input and to bring it to life.

This is a very bespoke approach, tailored to specific action goals and KPIs as well as the stories we are telling. It will evolve and change as the campaign winds its way through the summer.

The Whole Foods Market App is a discovery engine. With almost 4000 recipes and the ability to search, filter and add them to a shopping list in addition to cooking guides and other rich content, it’s meant to be a tool to both enable that discovery as well as help users begin to actualize that discovery.

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to lead a massive UX / UI redesign for that flagship app and am leading the process of reworking and augmenting it as we move forward. Whole Foods worked with the team at SapientNitro on the project in addition to our robust internal iOS team. I creative directed the entire project, both managing the agency creative relationship and our internal design resources while partnering with the tech resources leading the development process. As a part of the relaunch of the app, we created our first Android version as well.

The app itself is an immersive look at the recipes, guides and content within, leveraging rich photography, typography and bold color to draw users in. This was a big step forward for the 4 year old app. We are, however, already beginning a process of evolution of elements of this design system to both optimize, capitalize on any shortfalls and create further opportunities for engagement.

This evolution is part of an overarching cycle of rework and augmentation as the app marches forward. This is a key part of the project as it allows us to listen to user feedback and adjust to that feedback, making the app better in a cycle of constant deployment. I am leading the UX/ UI team making the design adjustments on all of those features and improvements moving forward. No project is perfect when launched, nor will it ever be, so this is a vitally important part of the process of continually meeting user need in more meaningful ways.

“The Warriors” has fascinated me since I saw it as a young teen in the years shortly after its release. The 1979 NYC gangland classic defined the sub genre of films dedicated to “chronicling” the noble, lawless urban decay at the center of cities like New York as the decade gave way to the 1980s. I loved all of it. Imaginative, iconic, indie and imminently quotable, the film continues to find new audiences.

I am playing tribute to the film with a series of 6 posters portraying 6 iconic “sets” from the film :: The Warriors, The Baseball Furies, The Lizzies, The Punks, The Hi-Hats and The Rogues.

Convenience is the name of the game in retail. Every day, the team I lead attempts to answer this question ::

“What have we enabled users to do in seamless ways today that they couldn’t yesterday?”

That sense of seamless enablement is the impetus behind this relaunch of the Whole Foods Market Online Ordering system. Clean, clear and responsive, this redesign offers users a frictionless experience from desktop to tablet to phone. This is a sterling example of the power of taking a mobile first approach. I led all user interface aspects of this initiative in a very hands-on way and had the pleasure of working with the talented team at XOXCO and our internal tech team as the project came to life.

The rework resulted in a 137% increase in conversion and a 173% increase in revenue YOY. That’s big news.

This is different than the Instacart experience that I have shown on here, as it is primarily focused on in-store ordering, items like catering and prepared foods. It is designed to work in-concert with that Instacart experience from a design standpoint, however.

For the first time in the 34 year history of the brand, Whole Foods Market has launched a national brand-driven campaign to communicate it’s truly unique value proposition. The traditional aspects of the campaign, (print executions and written tone) were developed directly by our “E Team” (think “C-Suite”) in tandem with an agency partner out of NYC, Partners and Spade. The campaign came down internally to the digital team with only about 4 weeks to launch a fully-integrated digital experience focused on deeper storytelling. A tall order for sure.

As the global Digital CD for the brand, I was a driving force for this phase of the campaign. I was lucky to be an integral part of a talented multi-disciplinary team, from concept through development and launch who were able to all aid in bringing this to life. For my part specifically, I drove concepting around the approach we took, created the visual concepts from which we executed our final launch deliverables, and ended up adjusting and creating many of those final deliverables directly. I also acted as Creative Director on the digital advertising portions of the campaign as well.

Because of our timeline and limited resources, we did also reach out to leverage some agency partners to help with execution and rapid creation of portions of the work, Electric Pulp, Cibo, Acquia and GSD&M were all a part of that group. In some cases, I was even playing “Photoshop Tennis” with the agencies directly, soooo they were solid collaborative partners in the process. Most importantly, our internal creative and development teams were also instrumental in helping with all of this. Big thanks to all of them for their efforts in helping the vision come to life!

The initiative has been LOVED by many audiences and we are currently replacing the main WFM home page with this experience. Though that was not the original plan, it is gratifying to see it so loved. To that end, stay tuned, I will be evolving this to ensure better affordance for users long term.

Here, I will share both the conceptual design prototypes I created at the outset of the initiative for our main landing experience as well as where those ended up in a final state across experiences. This gives a solid visual slice of the conceptual and executional aspects of the work. We are already looking at phase 02 for the experience. I will provide updates as they launch.

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CONCEPT 01 — Parallax scrolling experience designed to give a textured, layered view of the campaign’s messages and keep users engaged. This concept was not selected in favor of our other concept.

Shown Here: Home and Level 2 Pages at Desktop Resolution

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CONCEPT 02 — A “quilt” of tiled information that allows users to not only explore deeper into our brand stories, but also to participate in the conversation themselves.

Shown Here: Home Page at Desktop Resolution

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THE FINAL EXPERIENCE — You can see how the look and feel evolved. Please visit WHOLEFOODSMARKET.COM to interact with the full responsive experience.

Whole Foods Market devotees already know that we sell some really great wines. Simply put, our curation team on that front is truly peerless. We’ve created a new WFM Wine Club subscription experience to capitalize on that unique expertise and to promote that offering, we have built a brand and responsive digital presence that communicates essence of the club is all about.

I acted as the design lead on the project from brand inception through digital design. I am telling that story here, showing both my design for the sub-brand’s mark and color palette as well as a bit of the process of how I brought the digital side of the project through concept to approval.

On that process :: I am a firm believer in taking a very Agile approach to the digital space. So often however, those agile principles are only applied to the development side of the equation. That’s a mistake, in my humble opinion. Agility can be applied through the creative concepting process as well, standing up multiple options that show the possibilities and allow for rapid iteration towards build. On this project, I took stakeholders through a style-tiling process, giving that balance of a solid view of potential futures while allowing us to iterate flexibly and quickly on the march to approval. That ended up being a pretty short march in this case. We were ready to head into full production design in just two meetings. That’s the process at its best!

Peter Saville was the Creative Director / Graphic Designer at the legendary Factory Records from its founding in 1978. His work for bands on the label like Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio and Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark (among so many others) coupled with his post-Factory work for a full range of acts including Roxy Music, Ultravox, Duran Duran, King Crimson, Wham! and Peter Gabriel was nothing short of seminal. Just gorgeous, highly influential work that helped inform and shape so many of us in the field “of a certain age.” You can see a solid sampling of Mr. Saville’s work here :: http://www.hardformat.org/designers/peter-saville-designer/ — AND — http://www.petersaville.info/sleeves/

In tribute to Mr. Saville’s work and in the spirit of Mr. Saville’s sense of exploration, I have taken 25 classic albums and redesigned their album covers in answer to the question “WHAT IF THEY WERE ‘FACTORY?'” It is always VERY fruitful to explore a master’s work from the inside out like this. The awesome thing at this point in my career is that projects like this become a strong fusion of my own sensibilities and the master I am “conversing” with through the project.

One other note is that all of the photography in these designs is my own. I love to take photos and it was a ton of fun to purpose-shoot with these covers in mind.

Since I was a wee lad, I have loved the films of the “golden era” of 007 — think Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Roger Moore. There’s something terribly ridiculous, wonderfully infectious and timelessly ultra-cool about these films.

For this collection, I wanted to create a series of posters that looked like it might have come from a creative union of the legendary graphic designer Saul Bass with Frank McCarthy, the man behind so many of the iconic James Bond poster images that we associate with the image of “the man with the license to kill.” Bass would be the hands-on Designer here, with McCarthy acting as Creative Director. I know that would never happen, but hey…

Users select what is most important to them in an early childhood education solution for their child by clicking boxes next to qualities inherent in the Goddard experience. The qualities are all represented by branded iconography, both underscoring the brand style itself, but also encouraging users to interact and play with the intuitive interface. When users submit their choices, the system auto-stitches together a custom video showing them the true Goddard School experience based on their input. Each custom video is organized into chapters showing the qualities selected and featuring authentic video of real Goddard parents and teachers speaking to their real-world experiences. After each video users are then prompted to sign up for their own tour of a local Goddard School location. Tours are the primary conversion point for the schools and our go-to call-to-action for all outreach. Users were able to perform all tour scheduling functions on the site directly. The site is also responsive, resizing and adjusting the experience for the range of mobile screen sizes.

This was my concept and I was the design lead on the project. I also acted as hands-on creative director for the project as it moved into production and my ever-talented UPBrand team of creatives and video editors got involved.

Perhaps the best feedback one can receive for a project like this is that it’s working in spades for the client. The conversion numbers have been great here. A recent potential customer sent a follow up email to his local school after experiencing the site that read :: “If your school is half as impressive as your microsite, I know I’ll be sending my children to The Goddard School.”

PS — I can’t share a link to the site here as it is a private direct-marketing tool for each school.

Yep, I was a teen in the 1980s — Irondequoit High School, Class of 1989, baby. LOL! I know… I’m old.

The 80s were such a unique time in our American culture and an awesome time to be young simply because so much of our pop life was focused on being a teen. In tribute to the iconic films, actors and directors of the 1980s and in loving memory of that time, I offer this poster series: “80s TEEN MOVIES.”

As cheesy as it may sound, creating these brought back so many memories. My daughter just entered her teen years and I hope she has as much fun as I did. She’s already way cooler than I ever was and a much nicer person to boot, so she has an awesome start.

The 19th century gave us some of the most indelible images and stories of the horror genre. The monsters and men set forth in the books of that era continue to haunt us today and form the basis for our modern scene.

As I have mentioned here, I’m a total horror fiend. I thought I would share a concept that I have created to pay homage to the great horror masterworks of the 19th century. I designed and illustrated shirts representing 7 incredibly seminal works from that era. Here a list of the works in chrono order ::

You have to love working for clients that really feel your creative work on their bottom line. Clients that see the impact of your ideas and designs very directly. That’s the case in spades with Bocek Bros., a charcuterie start-up here in Missouri that I recently branded. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have always had a deep love for great charcuterie and let me tell you, the product Bocek Bros. is selling is great. Smoky, authentic and artisanal, this stuff is the real deal.

I was involved in all aspects of this one, from naming, to positioning to brand design and packaging (even copywriting and tagline development in the mix for me here as well). Self-performing isn’t something I do everyday with my role as VP / Creative Director; most of the time I’m trying to give the best creative opportunities to my team. I don’t say that solely altruistically, it’s just a great way to keep them motivated and engaged as an integral part of the agency. HOWEVER, this one was too much in my sweet spot on a variety of levels to pass up. LOL!

The goal was to create something that was hip and irreverent, but that retained a high-end “Napa Valley” artisanal sense to it. From the tagline and copy attitude to the mark and wordmark themselves to the site and packaging designs, I think that balance was conveyed.

Shown Here: Identity and Tagline, Brand Colors, Packaging Designs (with Detail), Photography Style (THANKS to Vince on my team for shooting), and Site

Simply put, I LOVE horror and I am a HUGE lover of music of all kinds. This work is part of a series I have created paying homage to the bands that fused horror imagery and themes with rock and roll to kick start the sub-genre that we call HORROR ROCK. These are the bands that started it all; the foundational pillars that so many after them have built on. Here’s to the chills and thrills that each of these bands have brought us over the years!

Warm, chewy pizza, soft velvety gelato, the very beautiful Monica Bellucci… The Italians have given us so much that makes our lives rich and rewarding. And very few things maintain the cosmopolitain, outsider sense of cool that the Italian moped does. That’s exactly what fledgeling Flying R Mopeds of Menlo Park, CA thinks, too.

This brand package exploration draws its inspiration from all of that history and savvy sense of cool. Fun and quirky with a clear nod to the classic moto Euro style of yesterday, the package brings a whimsical elegance and pop to the brand and communicates its essence. I also created custom, hand-done typography for the “R” and “FLYING R” portions of the identity. The other elements in the mix add up to a collection with both a classic flair and a sly wink. Fun.

In this business, we all have projects that are as rewarding as they are challenging. This rebrand for peerless early childhood educational leader The Goddard School falls directly into that category.

At once contemporary, approachable, bold and authentic, this new approach to the brand breathes a very fresh wind into the sails of the 25+-year-old franchise education provider. I was a creative lead on the project, filling the roles of Creative Director, Lead Designer, On-Set Director, Producer, Motionographer and (in some cases) Copywriter. Operating on a tight timeline, we executed a full rebrand plus campaign-driven materials to better tell the Goddard story. I was very blessed to work with a very talented crew internally at UPBrand that brought the signature style established here to a variety of additional projects not pictured here, a totally first-class DP and shooting crew, a really great editor / video team and a savvy and very hip client on this as well and I wanted to give props.

When the brand was rolled-out to both internal and franchisee stakeholders at an annual event in Florida, I am gratified to say that the work actually inspired some tears from those closest to the brand. A rarity, but always fun to see.

I thought I would share a montage of recent ID work that I hadn’t yet shared here. I so love creating projects like these and this is a fun collection. Solid identity work should speak for itself so I’ll let this one do just that.

These brand launch materials for boutique natural spring water bottling start-up, Wilburn’s Glen, convey the natural sense of authenticity inherent in the Llano, Texas brand. Based around design principles expressed the Deco, Moderne and WPA architectural jewels studded throughout the Texas Hill Country region, the brand style has a classic modern strength with a hip twist. I created custom typography for the name “GLEN,” giving an ownable center to the identity. Geometric angled lines update and leverage forward classic deco graphic design thematics and symmetry while creating subtle “W”elements throughout the designs. Fun and elegant with a touch of whimsey, this was a joy to work on.

I’m pleased to share the final result of the Propper Tactical brand launch. In an earlier post, I shared a colorful and engaging exploratory concept for this assignment. In contrast, the selected approach shown here is rich, textural and “engineered” with a clear lifestyle focus. It was paramount with this brand launch to do something genuinely different; something real for a real, savvy consumer target audience. The iconography and brand elements here speak to the concept of a “tactical system” with integrated imagery and clarity of purpose. Sleek, tactile textures bring touch and a decided sense of quality to the piece while the white graphic bar overlays underscore the central concept of the rank of “officer.” This is a bold, smart brand for well-engineered gear for today’s intelligent tactical law enforcement professionals.

Again, I was the hands-on designer for all of this, a co-concept lead and wrote the line descriptors (“Be Cool.,” Blend.,” “Perform.,” and “Move.”) for the brand.

This one is just something fun and beautiful. Created for a Halloween event at UPBrand, this rich, layered poster was just too evocative and pretty not to share. A highly nuanced blend of vibrant color, historic illustrations, found elements and a bit of Photoshop light and magic come together here with a decided sense of drama. Happy Halloween 2012, all!

Sometimes I showcase here the concepts that aren’t selected. I believe strongly in presenting only options to clients that are both artful and viable. However, of everything presented, only one can make it. This concept for military and tactical icon Propper International is a great example of something that was not selected, but that retains a strength and beauty that makes it worth sharing.

Let me just say, I love these guys. This assignment was a hell of a lot of fun to create and trust me when I tell you that though I really did love the work featured in this post, the concept they selected (and I have since executed) was the right choice and is VERY compelling. Frankly, I can’t wait to show you that work. We’re all very excited for the official launch.

This concept brings a heavy infusion of lifestyle to a powerful new tactical line of gear Propper is bringing to market. Colorful, iconoclastic and real, the work treats the target audience here with both the intelligence and consumer savvy so often absent in this sector. I was the hands-on designer for all of this, a co-concept lead and wrote the line descriptors (“Be Cool.,” Blend.,” “Perform.,” and “Move.”) for the brand.

Built to showcase the three main areas of expertise at UPBrand Collaborative — Strategy, Service and Design — this poster series injects some swagger and retro funk into the agency brand. I used personal custom-created illustration and type for the main text elements on each poster to give both a contemporary urban flair to the series as well as an artful sense of touch. I was also responsible for all concept and copywriting on these. Fun!

It’s VERY gratifying when a client simply does it right. Not only when they engage creatively with a progressive solution in mind, but also when they build out the solution across touchpoints from the macro to the micro. Regional construction leader Paric did exactly that. I was grateful to act as Creative Director and design lead throughout the process, designing both identity materials as well as a full signature style for the brand.

A revisioned Paric wordmark was at the heart of a new visual approach for the brand. The conceptual center of the design for the wordmark is within the “A.” The interplay of positive and negative space creates a dual image of both the cupola of a building, capturing what Paric builds every day and also a red pencil, representing the pre-construction process, a planning cycle that Paric is a recognized industry leader in.

Coupled with the revisioned wordmark is an iconic new logo. The new mark takes the building / pencil shape from the wordmark and builds on it, further driving the concept home. The mark leverages design touches from the international Art Deco period to echo a rich history of building; a nod to a time of fascination with and belief in the power of construction worldwide.

These core elements form the basis for a wide range of materials.

I also personally wrote the new tagline: “EXPERIENCE. EXCELLENCE.” The periods within the tag allow it to be read two distinct ways. Both “experience” and “excellence” are elements essential to a great build process and the periods allow us to call those qualities out in a specific way. The tagline does also read as a directive for clients to “experience excellence.”

I also acted as Director and Creative Director on video pieces for the new brand. I had the VERY distinct pleasure of working with Brant Hadfield as DP on the project, Susan McMichael who crafted the overarching story arc and Kyle Dufendach as editor. I LOVE framing up architecture in-lens and this was wonderful to shoot. The resulting style is progressive and elegant in turns. The motion graphics elements within the piece are also the result of design and motion direction on my part with Kyle using his great skills and knowledge to give it nuance and touch. I am showing a slice of the long format video here with the motion graphics logo build.

I love creating disruptive marketing solutions. I feel it’s been a hallmark of my career. This very recent campaign for the St. Louis Symphony was a wonderfully fun example of that.

I acted as the concept, design and copywriting lead for the campaign, creating the initial idea, flowing it out to a signature style for the campaign, penning copy throughout and creative directing any other moving parts with the Symphony’s internal team and contract specialists. The campaign featured postering, an engaging website that acted as a hub for the campaign, outdoor applications (both for billboards and metro transit stops) and a “viral-style” video shot by Brant Hadfield with SFX and production by Terry Coolidge.

All of the coverage for the campaign was gratifying to see, but the fact that sales were up was the real “reward,” here. In all, a fun and engaging solution for a gem of the nation’s arts landscape.

Another awesome project for $6 billion building giant and corporate mensch PCL Construction.

This contemporary refresh of PCL’s flagship magazine, Horizons, gives the company a great new outreach tool built around engaging storytelling and confident, progressive design. Evocative, full-page photography gives viewers a unique glimpse into the projects themselves while rich color overlays and forward-looking typography underscore the firm’s commitment to innovation. The grid elements throughout also hearken back to the nature of design-and-build projects.

In all, a wonderful example of the power of design to communicate the intangible aspects of a brand and the heart of an enterprise.

In my work life, I have the privilege of calling the internationally known St. Louis Symphony a client. I’ve shown some of my work for them here before. Simply put, the classical music scene ain’t what it use to be — exciting things are afoot. These engagement concepts show a bit of that new spirit. Fun, irreverent and just a touch naughty, these designs highlight the darker, more subversive side of an avant-garde Prokofiev classic. These are concepts that were not selected, because we actually have some other ideas that are more fun than this (I can’t wait to see those come to fruition), but I had a ton of fun designing these and they had an undeniable beauty. I wanted to share them here.

Carrying forward the packaging redesign I started for gourmet brand The Pear Tree, I recently created a new packaging suite for their signature dressing selections. Fresh, clean, contemporary and eye-catching, these designs capture the spirit of the brand while generating new interest in the product among a sea of sameness in the supermarket refrigerated dressing section — see in-store photos below to get a sense of the “pop” inherent in this graphic approach.

The great thing about extending the brand for a creative branding agency is the freedom. With agency branding, breaking the rules in unexpected ways is expected. At an agency, being off brand is essential to the brand.

That’s where this shirt comes from. Bold, avant-garde, progressive and hip this one says a lot about where UPBrand is headed as a brand and the fun one can have with just one color.

PCL Construction, a $6 billion international construction giant, the largest construction company in Canada and now #6 in America, asked UPBrand to help them further strengthen their brand position in the U.S. and abroad. To that end, I designed an arresting series of ads meant to generate awareness and interest in PCL’s expansion into the Houston area. This ad had a wonderful layered quality, creating interest through texture, nuance and dimension. In total, a very fun awareness ad for a great company.

Delivering world-class creative and brand clarity across the full range of channels and client areas of focus is the UPBrand mission. This “storybook” for the agency tells that story.

Built upon the “signature style” I had previously developed for the brand, this piece acts as the most complete exploration of that style in print to date, bringing an artful flair to the Bauhaus-driven grid present throughout the agency’s materials. The piece balances iconography and razor-sharp typography with rich photography, color blocks and whimsical vintage illustrations to create a unique approach. Overall, it’s a very inventive and engaging piece and was a ton of fun to create.

I also functioned as concept lead and copywriter on a good portion of this as well.